Important update: There are now two proper solutions to the Stacks fiasco. Either install the 10.5.2 update or install Quay. You do not need to use my application.

Leopard arrived with one major irritation: you can no longer drag a folder to the Dock and have its contents appear in a popup menu. This bugged me so much I couldn’t enjoy any of the great new features. So I whipped up a workaround to use until somebody comes up with a better idea.
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It seemed like a simple project: use a spare Mac to record TV off the cable and play it back on my big screen.

After a few weeks of turmoil, I’ve spent more time futzing with the setup than I have watching the stuff I recorded. Tonight I plan to record Dancing With the Stars and hope to have it ready to watch by tomorrow night. I’m not too optimistic, though.

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When I said three days ago that I would be content if Apple would just let us store files on iPhone and read them with Safari, I had no idea that a sure-enough SDK was right around the corner.

Now it’s just a matter of time until I get the device I’ve wanted for years: an iPod/phone/ebook reader.

Soon I can start wishing for an iPhone that will take the place of my car keys.

I don’t think anyone really believes Apple’s rationale for keeping third party apps off iPhone: viz., that it’s just too risky to run user-installed apps on a phone device. I suspect the real reason is that ATT doesn’t want people using Skype and iChat instead of making phone calls. But this is rank speculation. I’m prepared to suppose, for the sake of argument, that Apple is telling the truth. Is there, then, no hope that I will ever be able to use my iPhone as an eBook reader while it’s in airplane mode?
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I’ve been anxiously awaiting the opening of the first Apple store in my state. Saturday, September 8, would find me in line at 5 a.m. Maybe I’d be the first in line! I can dream can’t I?

But today I am crushed. On September 4 I learned that Apple has changed the opening time to Thursday at 6 p.m.

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A look at the wonderful Apple Form Factor Evolution graphic prompted me to remember that it was 10 years ago today–July 9, 1997–when the Apple board fired Gil Amelio and brought Steve Jobs back as the interim CEO. In Jobs’s first stint, from 1976 to 1985, Apple had produced the first personal computer and the Macintosh. What has Apple done after his return? Well, here are a few highlights: Read more »

My G3 iBook’s luck has run out. It’s a Dual-USB model, one of the defective batch of iBooks that contain a flaw in the video connection to the mainboard. The connections loosen over time, video stops working, and the user boots up to a black screen.

Apple responsibly offered to fix these iBooks but mine did not get sick until the repair program ended. The defect is serious, something that can’t be repaired with a soldering iron and a steady hand. If I could only get the iBook to boot up a few more times with video Read more »